Chattanooga Housing Authority looking to replace lost federal funding

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The Chattanooga Housing Authority says their One Westside project now has a funding gap.

They had been given a 50 million dollar grant by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This comes as the renovation project of the James A. Henry Building is already underway.

Future plans call for the full demolition and rebuilding of the College Hill Courts and other surrounding public housing projects.

However, nearly eight million of those dollars appear to no longer be available due to federal budget cuts, which could impact future development.

CHA’s executive director Betsy McCright said, “During this first part of 2025, we became convinced that we would not see the federal earmark of five million from the help of Congressman Fleischmann’s office and the Department of Energy C-Site Grant that the city had applied for last year in the amount of $2.9 million will not be forthcoming during this phase one piece of the project.”

The Chattanooga Industrial Development Board will have to vote on the first step that would make up $1.5 million dollars of that deficit.

This funding is separate from the privately funded The Bend project which is under construction on the other side of Riverfront Parkway.